Recipe 6.1 Getting a CVS Server

6.1.1 Problem

You want to start working with CVS and need to install a CVS server.

6.1.2 Solution

You might already have a CVS server installed; if not, you can download one.

6.1.3 Discussion

Today, most Linux and Unix installations come with a CVS server as part of their standard distribution. To check if you have a working CVS installation, type cvs --help on the command line; you should see a list of help prompts. If you can't find a CVS server, download one from http://www.cvshome.org. On larger systems, talk to the support techs if you can't find a CVS installation.

If you're running Windows, you can find a number of CVS servers available for download. For example, the venerable CVSNT is available for free from http://www.cvsnt.org. Just run the executable to install it.

A variety of CVS servers are available, and they all come with their own installation instructions. I'm not going to reproduce those installation instructions here, having been burned by that in the past as new versions—with totally different installation instructions—appeared. Usually, installation is not difficult once you've downloaded the server you want. Just check the instructions that come with the download. And bear in mind that if the install is too complex, and things aren't working, other CVS servers are always available.

6.1.4 See Also

Chapter 4 of Eclipse (O'Reilly).